Luke Fickell has a massive quarterback problem, and it's been haunting him since he arrived at Wisconsin. Every year, his starter has gone down with an injury, and he's had to rely on backups. Each year, the problem seems to get worse, not better. In year one, he was able to bring Tanner Mordecai back at the end of the season. Year two, it got worse with Braedyn Locke, but at least he played every game. This year, it's bad, and behind the scenes, it may be worse.
Fickell has had to turn to Hunter Simmons, the third-string quarterback for Wisconsin. He wasn't even a starter at his previous school, Southern Illinois. Now, he's thrust into the limelight, and it honestly could be because he's the only quarterback willing to play.
Luke Fickell's comments over the season about the quarterbacks indicates a mess
Luke Fickell has had some strange things to say about his quarterbacks this season, and if you piece things together, it paints a really weird behind-the-scenes picture. This isn't to be a conspiracy theorist in the slightest; in fact, it almost feels like it's worse behind the scenes than Fickell is even letting on.
Let's start with Billy Edwards Jr., who was to come in and be the starter for the whole season. He was injured with a knee sprain to start the year. He missed a couple of weeks and then tried to play against Maryland, and it didn't work out. The injury didn't get worse, but didn't have full time to heal, or at least that was what was indicated. 'He would be back in a few weeks' was the message.
What happened next paints a strange picture. He missed the next game against Michigan, obviously, and then during the Iowa game, with six minutes left. Luke Fickell went to him to see if he could play or if he was close to being able to play (maybe not in that game, but in the future). And what Fickell said post-game was strange: "I was trying to pick his brain a little (during the game) to see where he's at, and you know, I don't really know."
In other words, Billy didn't want to play. Whether that's because he wants to make sure he's fully healed or because he's planning to take his medical redshirt and transfer after the season. Who knows. But either way, it indicates he wasn't and maybe isn't going to play.
So maybe the backup, Danny O'Neil, who was a starter at San Diego State last year, was brought in for exactly this reason. A reliable backup to Edwards Jr. in case of an injury. Yet, somehow, he fell from grace and didn't get the start against Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, or Oregon. That all went to Hunter Simmons, the third-string quarterback.
Then, after the Oregon game, Fickell was asked why they didn't play O'Neil, especially because Simmons was clearly struggling. Fickell had another strange comment about his quarterback, this time O'Neil, "'I think there are some opportunities there for Danny.' We are going to need Danny down the stretch. We need Danny to stick with us and stay with us and see how this thing rolls."
Does Luke Fickell only have one quarterback that wants to play for Wisconsin this season?
Does this mean that Danny also doesn't want to play? Is he thinking about transferring? Is he trying to preserve a redshirt? While he has appeared in 5 games, he only took a few snaps against Ohio State and may have a case with an appeal to the NCAA if he sits out the rest.
Which means Luke Fickell may only have one quarterback willing to play, with true freshman Carter Smith entering the season with clear intent to redshirt and probably not ready yet.
This is bad, and Luke Fickell's handling of his quarterbacks this season may be the biggest problem of the season. It's all happening behind the scenes, so it's hard to know exactly, but it's bad. It's a mess, and Fickell needs to answer some hard questions.